(1) Al-Hakim recorded the report (2/393); through his chain it was also transmitted by al-Bayhaqi (2/283) and by al-Hazimi in al-Iʿtibar (p. 60), all via Abu Shuayb al-Harrani: “My father narrated to me; Ismail ibn Ulayya narrated to us, from Ayyub, from Muhammad ibn Sirin, from Abu Hurayra: Whenever the Messenger of Allah prayed, he would raise his gaze toward the sky, whereupon the verse alladhina hum fi salatihim khashiun (those who are humble in their prayer, Q 23:2) was revealed, so he lowered his head.” Al-Hakim said, “It is sahih according to the criteria of the two Shaykhs, were it not for a disagreement in the transmission from Muhammad, for some have narrated it as mursal.” I respond: it meets only Muslim’s criteria, for the father of Abu Shuayb—ʿAbd Allah ibn al-Hasan ibn Ahmad ibn Abi Shuayb—was included solely by Muslim, who considered him one of his own shaykhs. His son ʿAbd Allah is reliable; see Tarikh Baghdad (9/435-437) and Lisan al-Mizan. As for the mursal form mentioned by al-Hakim, al-Bayhaqi related it through Saʿid ibn Mansur: Ismail ibn Ibrahim (Ibn ʿUlayya) from Ayyub, from Muhammad, who said: “It is established that the Messenger of Allah, when he prayed …” and he narrated it in similar terms, adding: “Muhammad ibn Sirin preferred that a man not let his gaze go beyond his place of prostration.” He then remarked, “This is the preserved version: mursal.” Al-Bayhaqi also brought it through Yunus ibn Bukayr, and al-Hazimi through Abu Shihab—the younger, whose name is ʿAbd Rabbih ibn Nafiʿ—both from ʿAbd Allah ibn ʿAwn, from Muhammad, with the same wording.